Six active contracts and millions of dollars for promotion in the United States of America (USA). The Serbian government has signed three contracts with American lobbying firms, the Chamber of Commerce has one, and two contracts are with private Serbian companies that have received lucrative infrastructure contracts from the state in the past. This is according to data from the US Department of Justice on “foreign agents”, which were analyzed by Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL). Lobbying in the US is not illegal, but companies and individuals who represent foreign interests must report it. It is FARA – the Foreign Agents Registration Act – that obliges them to do so.

The database is publicly available and shows who hired American lobbyists, when, and for what price. Thus, the documents show that the Serbian government allocates tens of thousands of dollars from the budget every month to promote Serbia in Washington – through media campaigns, but also meetings with American officials.

Serbian laws do not prevent the state from lobbying abroad to achieve its own interests. What are the Serbian authorities lobbying for in Washington? The Serbian government has three active lobbying contracts in the US, with three different firms – “KARV Communications” from New York, “Valcour LLC” from Washington, and “CRB Global LLC” from Arlington, Virginia.

None of them answered Radio Free Europe's questions about working for the Serbian government. The government also did not answer Radio Free Europe's questions.

“It can be seen that Belgrade’s lobbying is intensifying, not only through the fact that there are three agreements, but also that a strategic dialogue with the US has recently been launched, so the impression is that Belgrade’s more proactive policy towards Washington has intensified,” Mijat Kostic of the non-governmental initiative “New Third Way” told Radio Free Europe. “The contracts with lobbying groups also show that Belgrade’s goals are cooperation in the fields of economy, defense industry and energy,” he added. The US base also provides information on some of the activities of lobbying firms.

"Sanctions talks"
The company “CRB Global LLC” has had a one-year “strategic consulting” contract with the Government in Belgrade since February 2026. The firm’s goal is to “drive the client’s relationship with the US federal government, as well as the client’s aspirations for long-term cooperation” with Washington.

Official Belgrade pays them ten thousand dollars a month for their services. “CRB Global LLC”, as seen in the documents, is responsible for improving relations between Belgrade and Washington and strengthening economic ties, exploring opportunities for additional military and technical cooperation, as well as developing relations between the US, Israel and Serbia.

And, in the American database, the only activities of this company on behalf of the Serbian government so far are virtual meetings during 2025 and 2026 with the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM), to discuss the “sanctions issue”. It is not specified what kind of sanctions are in question. But, it is known that earlier in 2025, Serbia hired another lobbying group, due to sanctions imposed by Washington in the energy sector – namely, the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS).

NIS has been under US sanctions since January 2025 due to its majority Russian ownership. Washington's aim was to prevent Moscow from using energy revenues to finance the war in Ukraine. In late 2025, an agreement was reached to sell Russia's stake in NIS to Hungarian group MOL, and the transaction must also be approved by Washington.

Belgrade campaigns against Srebrenica resolution
The contract with the company “KARV Communications” provides for “support to the Government of Serbia in the field of strategic communications and media relations.” The one-year contract, signed in 2023, shows that “KARV Communication” services cost the Serbian Government about $60.000 per month.

The cooperation is still ongoing, but it is not known whether it is still at the same price. “Specific services will include, among other things, communication with the media and relevant groups based in the US, to present and explain Serbia’s political initiatives,” the documents state.

The American firm will be responsible for drafting and sending speeches and announcements, according to the data. “KARV” also listed some of the activities carried out on behalf of the Serbian government in the US registry. Among other things, in late 2024, it provided American media with an interview with Foreign Minister Marko Djuric, as well as his and Vucic’s statement denying Serbia’s involvement in the explosion in the Iber-Lepenc canal in Kosovo.

Kosovo has blamed Belgrade for the explosion, which seriously damaged Kosovo's water supply and energy infrastructure. "KARV", as can be seen, was also tasked with conveying to the American media the position of Serbian officials who opposed the Resolution on the Srebrenica genocide, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in July 2024.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars for the promotion of the EXPO
The Serbian government signed a one-year contract with the company “Valcour LLC” in November 2024. Both parties agreed that the American company’s services would be paid $65.000 per month – or $780.000 per year.

The contract was extended until November 2026 after its expiration, but it is not specified how much the Serbian government is now paying for the services in the US. “Valcour” is responsible for consulting services in communications and public relations, as well as other tasks related to the promotion of Serbia as the host of EXPO 2027. While the government, led by President Aleksandar Vučić, describes the EXPO as a “historic project and a symbol of the future.” Some in the public are accusing the project of corruption and lack of transparency.

Several opposition parties and non-governmental activists demanded that the international organizers reconsider holding the EXPO in Serbia. As can be seen in the American database, the company “Valcour”, in addition to the media presentation of Serbia, was also responsible for establishing contacts between Serbian and American officials. Among the topics of discussion, in addition to relations between the two countries, energy also stands out. Who else is lobbying for Serbia in Washington?

The private Serbian company "Maneks" from Novi Sad also invests more than a million dollars a year in lobbying in Washington, according to the American registry FARA.

It chose the American company “CRB Global LLC” as its partner in this business. And the declared goals of this lobbying coincide with those of the Serbian Government in its contract with the same company. While the goals of the lobbying are the same, the difference, as the documents in the American registry show, is only in the amount shared by “Maneks” and the Government.

While “Manex” gives American lobbyists $90.000 per month for “strategic consulting,” the state allocates nine times less. However, neither the Government nor “Manex” answered Radio Free Europe’s questions about how they chose the same company to represent their interests in the US, nor why their interests coincide. It is also not known why “Manex” decided to engage in lobbying in the US. Mijat Kostić from the non-governmental initiative “New Third Way” emphasizes to Radio Free Europe that the contracts of private companies for lobbying abroad are legal and legitimate.

“But the interest of a private company would be mainly to have better access to the American market, through, for example, tariff relief, or similar, which affects economic and business ties,” he explains. “It is difficult to prove that the company itself in the US does not actually represent its own interests, but the interests of the Serbian government,” he emphasizes.

“But if one reads how the contract itself is written and the goals are the same, one can conclude that, in fact, through lobbying by a private company, the government is trying to intensify its lobbying activities,” he concludes. The Novi Sad-based company “Maneks”, owned by businessman Dragoljub Zbiliq, was founded 20 years ago to trade non-ferrous metals.

Meanwhile, Maneks has expanded its business into the energy sector. The contract with the American firm, according to documents available in the FARA database, will govern “the client’s relationship with the federal government of the United States of America, as well as the client’s aspiration for long-term cooperation with the United States.” They say that, among other things, the contract includes several goals.

From working to improve relations between Belgrade and Washington and strengthen economic ties, to exploring opportunities for additional military and technical cooperation and developing relations between the US, Israel and Serbia. The contract, as the database shows, was reached on January 19, with a duration until the end of 2026. This means that the American company should earn more than a million dollars from “Manex”. But there are no details about the lobbying activities themselves. Comparing two contracts, which both “Manex” and the Government of Serbia have with the same company, Kostić emphasizes that the state shares much less than a private company.

“The state can thus avoid criticism that it is spending large sums of money from the budget on lobbying, or rather, to improve its position in the American administration, instead of perhaps investing it in something else,” he concludes. The “Maneks” businesses have been growing since the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came to power. It entered the energy sector by acquiring the companies “Energotehnika Južna Bačka” and “Elektromontaža” from Kraljevo.

In recent years, companies under the auspices of Maneks have received contracts from the state for key infrastructure projects worth millions of dollars. During 2025, majority ownership in Južna Bačka and Elektromontaža will be taken over by the Hungarian state-owned electricity company MVM, while Zbiliq's Maneks will remain a minority owner with 40 percent of the shares.

After this acquisition, Zbiliq stated that his company wanted to enter the European Union market. And in the last year alone, 2025, Maneks' profits exceeded 45 million euros, according to financial reports analyzed by REL.

Before the SNS came to power in 2012, Zbiliq’s company was the guarantor of their campaign loan, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) previously reported based on available documents. Zbiliq did not want to comment on the allegations at the time. The businessman is also known as the president of the Vojvodina football club. What is the Millennium Team lobbying for?

Another private firm from Serbia, Millennium Team, based in Belgrade, has a lobbying contract in the U.S. They hired Steptoe LLP, a law firm based in Washington.

Millennium Team is paying the firm around $200 per month for its work. The contract runs through September 2024. Steptoe LLP is described on its website as having, among other things, an “international reputation for representing clients before government agencies.”

And as stated in the report to American authorities, the cooperation with the Serbian company "Millennium Team" includes relations services with the media, but also with institutions and officials in the US, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

For the “Millennium Team,” the cooperation with the American company is “a business decision based solely on commercial interests.” The goal, as they said in their response to Radio Free Europe, is to open up new business opportunities for the company, but they declined to comment on whether this cooperation has anything to do with the Serbian government.

“The details of this cooperation, to which your questions refer, constitute confidential business information and are part of a contractual relationship protected by the obligation of confidentiality, therefore we are not able to comment on them,” they stated in their response. However, an activity on behalf of the company “Millennium Team” was registered as “political” in the American database. There is a request for a meeting with an official from the US Department of Defense, as well as a meeting with him.

And the topic of the meeting, held in March 2025, was listed as “a discussion on Serbia.” No details about the meeting were given. “It is very possible that Millennium Team will be one of the companies that will participate in some future American investments here,” Kostic says.

He earns millions in business deals, which he also ties up with the state.

Profits at the end of last year exceeded 21 million euros, according to publicly available company financial documents, which were analyzed by RFE/RL.

“As an infrastructure contractor for the Government of Serbia, the client receives a portion of its revenue from (state) institutions” – this is how “Steptoe” describes the “Millennium Team” in its application to the US authorities.

This private Serbian company is one of the builders of “Belgrade on the Water” – a luxury resort, the construction of which began after illegal demolition on the banks of the Sava River in 2016. One of the largest projects that “Millennium Team” is currently engaged in is the construction of facilities for the international exhibition EXPO, which Belgrade will host in 2027.

How does the Serbian Chamber of Commerce lobby?

The Serbian Chamber of Commerce, as an independent institution financed by membership fees, has cooperation with a lobbying firm in the US. A one-year contract was signed in 2019 with the Washington-based company “Yorktown Solutions, LLC”. And it was extended every subsequent year, while the annual fee amounts changed – from 400 to 840 thousand dollars.

According to the latest available contract, the American firm is responsible for strategic consulting for the Chamber of Commerce. First of all, for issues affecting economic relations between Belgrade and Washington and relations with US state institutions. In addition to communicating with officials, the media and the private sector, Yorktown Solutions, according to the documents, is required to organize presentations for potential investors and similar promotional events aimed at attracting direct US investment in Serbia, as well as investments by Serbian companies in the US.